Ala Kiiruhda

Georg Otsin parasta.  Kuuntele.

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Kapakassa

Kavin paikallisessa kapakassa tana iltana syomassa aterian ja samassa join pari olutta.  Syntyi keskustelua vieressa istuneen naishenkilon kanssa.  Han sanoi olevansa Montanasta kotoisin. Sanoi, etta hanella oli 38-vuotias tytar ja itse on kuusikymppinen.   Sanoin etta han on kovin nuorena saanut lapsen.  Siitakos han riemastui ja totesi etta oli jo "vanha" synnyttaessaan, silla Montanassa kaikki saivat lapsia jo teini-iassa hanen ollessaan nuori.  Eivatka asiat ole kuulemma paljon muuttuneet sittemmin.

Hanen tyttarensa on sairaanhoitaja paikallisella klinikalla.  Han on ainut lapsi ja miettii kuumeisesti voisiko tehda lapsen viela "vanhoilla paivillaan".  On yksinainen, mutta haluaisi lapsen, ja oma aiti kannattaa ajatusta. Ei vain ole varaa siihen.  Sairaanhoitajan tulot ovat aika hyvat taalla, mutta yksinhuoltajan olot ovat tosi huonot, silla paivakoti ym. lapsen huoltokustannukset maksavat mielettomasti.  "Isoaiti" auttaisi mielellaan, mutta ei koe pystyvansa hoitamaan lasta tayspaivaisesti, silla hanen on pysyttava toissa jotta voisi maksaa omat asuntovelkansa.

Seka aidilla etta tyttarella on kaksi tyopaikkaa, ja vain yksi vapaapaiva viikossa.

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Iguanas

Watch this video of Iguanas diving at the Galapagos Island.

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Iguanas

Harvey Milk

I saw the film "Milk" last night.  Sean Penn does a wonderful job of portraying Harvey Milk, a gay activist in the 70's San Francisco.  There's a sincerity to his character that keeps the film flowing. The film makes you realize that a lot has changed in 30 years, and yet still so much is the same.  There are still so many haters and bigots out there that want to destroy others.  Just look at California's Proposition 8.

It was interesting to see how the film portrayed 1977-78.  Seems like a long time ago.  That was the same year I came to the United States.

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I Give Thanks...

...for the bounty and goodness of the earth.

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Syksyn pimeys

Hillarysta ulkoministeri

Onhan se hienoa etta Obama on tekemassa Hillarysta Yhdysvaltain ulkoministeria. Han on eteva, alykas, tiukka, ja tuntee "kaikki maailman ihmiset". Obama ja Hillary ovat hieroneet rauhan keskenaan ja siita hyotyy kaikki. Jopa republikaanit ovat tyytyvaisia valintaan. (Se saa tietysti minut hetkeksi eparoimaan koko touhua; mutta vain hetkeksi.)
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Poor And Fat

The Seattle Post Intelligencer has an article about the link between being poor and fat in America. We tend to blame those who are over-weight without thinking about what kind of choices they really have regarding their diet. Even schools generally offer very little choice in the kinds of meals kids eat daily - it's mostly junk food and coca-cola.
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By ADAM DREWNOWSKI
GUEST COLUMNIST

We have been told -- all too often -- that rising obesity rates in the U.S. are the result of a toxic food environment. Not so.

All evidence suggests that obesity is the toxic consequence of a failing economic environment. The social and economic policies of the past two decades have created an obese and increasingly diabetic American underclass. The consequences of fiscal deregulation, spanning several previous administrations, will plague the health system for years to come.

We were told that obesity was genetically driven, much like height. Not so. Both obesity and diabetes follow a social gradient. Bodies do not lie. High body weight, an infallible index of lower social class among women, is associated with economic insecurity and social distress. The social gradient applies equally to geographic measures.

Upscale neighborhoods are lean; poor neighborhoods are more likely to be obese. Across King County, obesity rates range from a low of 5 percent to a high of 30 percent depending on ZIP code. Seattle real estate prices, a good index of area poverty or wealth, are a reliable predictor both of obesity and of diabetes-related deaths.

We were told that obesity was the result of poor choices regarding fitness or diet. Not so. The carefully fostered illusion of freedom of choice disguises the fact that most people have none. Energy-dense foods, many of them nutrient poor, are good tasting, readily available, and cheap. Households selecting fast foods are typically accused of laziness, self-indulgence and moral failure. Few have thought to ask whether low-income households were simply making the only economic choices available.

Skyrocketing food prices have put the global obesity issue in a new and starker perspective. Speaking at the June 2008 High-level Conference on World Food Security in Rome, Margaret Chan, director general of the World Health Organization, said: "Food choices are highly sensitive to price. The first items to drop out of the diet are usually healthy foods -- fruit, vegetables, and high-quality sources of protein. ... Nutrient-poor staples are often the cheapest way to fill hungry stomachs." She reiterated those words at the June 2008 Pacific Health Summit in Seattle.

That declaration was directly based on research on diet quality and diet cost. Simply put, as incomes drop and food budgets shrink, food choices shift toward energy-dense refined grains, added sugars and fats. Whereas higher food spending does not guarantee a better diet, reducing spending below a certain minimum virtually ensures that the resulting diet will be energy-rich but nutrient-poor. Computer models, when driven by cost constraints only, consistently create diets similar to those consumed by the poor.

The obesity debate in the U.S. has steered clear of the complex issues of social class. Rather, much time has been spent on genetics, physiology, race/ethnicity, personal responsibility and freedom of choice. Attempts to improve dietary habits have stressed individual food choice behavior, psychosocial factors, self-efficacy and readiness to change. Official guidelines such as the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and USDA MyPyramid exhort consumers to "choose" healthful diets as opposed to unhealthy ones, somewhat like choosing chocolate over vanilla ice cream.

The issue of cost is never mentioned. Yet the key predictor of weight gain may not turn out to be sugar or fat, but simply low diet cost.

The issue of access to food sources is only now getting recognition. Minorities and the poor are at a disadvantage here: Poor neighborhoods attract fast food outlets and convenience stores as opposed to full-service supermarkets, an issue sometimes framed in terms of social justice.

However, given that many healthful foods have become luxury goods, their availability is driven by neighborhood buying power. It is a shame that many of the current strategies for obesity management are based not around alleviating poverty but around recommending high-cost foods to low-income people. That approach will not work in the U.S. or elsewhere.

The dual burden of undernutrition and overweight now faced by developing nations is another economic issue directly linked to poverty, food prices and diet costs.

The relation between food, incomes and health should once again become a priority for global public health. The major policy and political challenge for global nutrition is to ensure a supply of affordable healthy foods to all.

Adam Drewnowski is professor of epidemiology and medicine at the University of Washington and director of the Center for Obesity Research and Nutritional Science Program;
adamdrew@u.washington.edu

Bill Maher

I am so excited! I found Bill Maher videos that can be attached right into my blog! He is my favorite funny man. I would almost marry him if the circumstances were different. ;)
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Suomalaisille herkkua

Kokeilen blogissani uusia kikkoja seka suomalaiseen etta maailman makuun. Liitan blogiin pienia videoklippeja katsottavaksi ja ihmeteltavaksi. Kokeilen miten ne toimivat. Aion myos kokeilla muuta kivaa myohemmin...
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Naomi Klein Interview

Amy Goodman interviews Naomi Klein regarding the looting of the treasury. It is a shame what is happening even now as the tax payer money is taken and nobody is overseeing what happens to it. We'll all be begging on the streets soon.
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Naomi Klein

Clinton-issues

Clinton business issues

Everywhere you look, there’s stuff about Bill Clinton’s donors and all that, often with the implication that there must inherently be something dirty going on, because, well, just because.

But I guess that’s just the way things are. After all, do you remember all the grief President Bush got over his family’s questionable business ties?

Neither do I.

http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid:81085

[Paul Krugman]

Have A Drink...

Melissa Etheridge

[From Daily Beast]

Singer Melissa Etheridge rails against the passage of the gay-marriage ban in California—and she won't be paying the state a dime.

Okay. So Prop 8 passed. Alright, I get it. 51% of you think that I am a second class citizen. Alright then. So my wife, uh I mean, roommate? Girlfriend? Special lady friend? You are gonna have to help me here because I am not sure what to call her now. Anyways, she and I are not allowed the same right under the state constitution as any other citizen. Okay, so I am taking that to mean I do not have to pay my state taxes because I am not a full citizen. I mean that would just be wrong, to make someone pay taxes and not give them the same rights, sounds sort of like that taxation without representation thing from the history books.

Okay, cool I don't mean to get too personal here but there is a lot I can do with the extra half a million dollars that I will be keeping instead of handing it over to the state of California. Oh, and I am sure Ellen will be a little excited to keep her bazillion bucks that she pays in taxes too. Wow, come to think of it, there are quite a few of us fortunate gay folks that will be having some extra cash this year. What recession? We're gay! I am sure there will be a little box on the tax forms now single, married, divorced, gay, check here if you are gay, yeah, that's not so bad. Of course all of the waiters and hairdressers and UPS workers and gym teachers and such, they won't have to pay their taxes either.

Gay people are born everyday. You will never legislate that away.
Oh and too bad California, I know you were looking forward to the revenue from all of those extra marriages. I guess you will have to find some other way to get out of the budget trouble you are in.

…Really?
When did it become okay to legislate morality? I try to envision someone reading that legislation "eliminates the right" and then clicking yes. What goes through their mind? Was it the frightening commercial where the little girl comes home and says, "Hi mom, we learned about gays in class today" and then the mother gets that awful worried look and the scary music plays? Do they not know anyone who is gay? If they do, can they look them in the face and say "I believe you do not deserve the same rights as me"? Do they think that their children will never encounter a gay person? Do they think they will never have to explain the 20% of us who are gay and living and working side by side with all the citizens of California?
I got news for them, someday your child is going to come home and ask you what a gay person is. Gay people are born everyday. You will never legislate that away.

I know when I grew up gay was a bad word. Homo, lezzie, faggot, dyke. Ignorance and fear ruled the day. There were so many "thems" back then. The blacks, the poor ... you know, "them". Then there was the immigrants. "Them.” Now the them is me.

I tell myself to take a breath, okay take another one, one of the thems made it to the top. Obama has been elected president. This crazy fearful insanity will end soon. This great state and this great country of ours will finally come to the understanding that there is no "them". We are one. We are united. What you do to someone else you do to yourself. That "judge not, lest ye yourself be judged" are truthful words and not Christian rhetoric.

Today the gay citizenry of this state will pick themselves up and dust themselves off and do what we have been doing for years. We will get back into it. We love this state, we love this country and we are not going to leave it. Even though we could be married in Mass. or Conn, Canada, Holland, Spain and a handful of other countries, this is our home. This is where we work and play and raise our families. We will not rest until we have the full rights of any other citizen. It is that simple, no fearful vote will ever stop us, that is not the American way.
Come to think of it, I should get a federal tax break too...

Melissa Etheridge is an Academy Award-winning and Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter.

In Need of Vacation

Silja Talvi writes about why Americans are a bit more crazy than the rest of the world: they work too much. I have noticed the same. I need a vacation.
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Medical and poll-based evidence indicates that we seriously need relief. Work-related stress can lead to sudden heart attacks, obesity, anxiety and depression. A World Health Organization and Harvard Medical School study last year put the United States at the top of the list of depressed (or otherwise mentally disordered) countries, while the Gallup Daily Happiness-Stress Index finds that the only consistent upswing in mood occur when Americans get some time off on the weekends or holidays.

As John de Graaf, executive director of the Seattle-based advocacy group Take Back Your Time, puts it, Americans are "time-starved and vacation-starved."

Americans put in more hours at work than any other nation, surpassing even the workaholic Japanese. We average nine more weeks of labor per year than our working counterparts in Western Europe, who get at least 20 paid days of vacation each year.

Finland tops the list of vacation-supporting industrialized nations with 30 paid vacation days per year after the first year of work, plus 14 paid national holidays, according to a July 2007 report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research. (This is in addition to the possibility that the country might soon grant "love holidays" so that some couples can rekindle passions and have kids.)

Canada and Japan are near the bottom of that list, with a legal minimum of 10 vacation days, while the United States has the dubious distinction of being the only industrialized nation that does not have a mandatory minimum of vacation time. In fact, out of the world's 195 independent countries, 137 have some kind of vacation/annual leave legislation in place.

Whole article

Vaalit on ohi

Nyt on jo yli viikko siita kun Obama voitti vaalit. Voitto oli niin vakuuttava, etta se vei tuulet vastustajien purjeista. Hyva niin. Taustalla kuitenkin hymistaan ja varmasti odotetaan sopivaa tilaisuutta iskea takisin. Republikaanit saivat vain niin kovasti turpaansa, etta nyt on aika nuolla ensin omat haavat ja laskea haavoittuneet; vasta sen jalkeen voi lahtea toden teolla hyokkaykseen.

Nyt jo puhutaan pysyvasta demokraattien hegemoniasta. Se on kai turhaa puhetta. Vain muutama vuosi sitten puhuttiin pysyvasta republikaanien ylivallasta. Aikansa kutakin. On kuitenkin huomattava sellainen trendi, etta suurin osa nuorista aanesti demokraatteja ja Obamaa, ja republikaanit olivat voitolla vain "takamailla". Ovat putoamassa kelkasta kaiken maailman kulttuuri- ja uskonsodilla.
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California's Anti-gay-marriage Initiative

Black support of anti-gay-marriage initiative disappoints

While California African Americans were voting to elect Barack Obama as the nation's first black president, they were also voting to demean and deny that state's gay population.

By Leonard Pitts Jr
Syndicated Columnist

Sometimes, progress carries an asterisk.
That's as good a summary as any of a sad irony from last week's historic election. You will recall one of the major story lines of that day was the fact that, in helping make Barack Obama the nation's first black president, African Americans struck a blow against a history that has taught us all too well how it feels to be demeaned and denied. Unfortunately, while they were striking that blow, some black folks chose to demean and deny someone else.

Last week, you see, California voters passed an initiative denying recognition to same-sex marriages. This overturned an earlier ruling from the state Supreme Court legalizing those unions. The vote was hardly a surprise; surely there is nothing in politics easier than to rouse a majority of voters against the "threat" of gay people being treated like people.

But African Americans were crucial to the passage of the bill, supporting it by a margin of better than 2-to-1. To anyone familiar with the deep strain of social conservatism that runs through the black electorate, this is not surprising either. It is, however, starkly disappointing. Moreover, it leaves me wondering for the umpteenth time how people who have known so much of oppression can turn around and oppress.

Yes, I know. I can hear some black folk yelling at me from here, wanting me to know it's not the same, what gays have gone through and what black people did, wanting me to know they acted from sound principles and strong values. It is justification and rationalization, and I've heard it all before. I wish they would explain to me how they can, with a straight face, use arguments against gay people that were first tested and perfected against us.

When, for instance, they use an obscure passage from the Bible to claim God has ordained the mistreatment of gays, don't they hear an echo of white people using that Bible to claim God ordained the mistreatment of blacks?

When they rail against homosexuality as "unnatural," don't they remember when that same word was used to des-cribe abolition, interracial marriage and school integration?
When they say they'd have no trouble with gay people if they would just stop "flaunting" their sexuality, doesn't it bring to mind all those good ol' boys who said they had no problem with "Nigras" so long as they stayed in their place?

No, the black experience and the gay experience are not equivalent. Gay people were not the victims of mass kidnap or mass enslavement. No war was required to strike the shackles from their limbs. But that's not the same as saying blacks and gays have nothing in common.

On the contrary, gay people know what it's like to be left out, lied about, scapegoated, discriminated against, held up, beat down, denied a job, a loan or a life. And, too, they know how it feels to sit there and watch other people vote upon your very humanity.

So beg pardon, but black people should know better. Those who bear scars from intolerance should be the last to practice it.

Sadly, we are sometimes the first. That tells you something about how seductive a thing intolerance is, how difficult it can be to resist the serpent whisper that says it's OK to ridicule and marginalize those people over there because they look funny, or talk funny, worship funny or love funny. So in the end, we struggle with the same imperative as from ages ago: to overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice.

But if last week's vote taught us nothing else, it taught us that persistence plus faith equals change.
And we shall overcome.

Al Gore's Energy Plan

By Al Gore:
What follows is a five-part plan to repower America with a commitment to producing 100 percent of our electricity from carbon-free sources within 10 years. It is a plan that would simultaneously move us toward solutions to the climate crisis and the economic crisis -- and create millions of new jobs that cannot be outsourced.

First, the new president and the new Congress should offer large-scale investment in incentives for the construction of concentrated solar thermal plants in the Southwestern deserts, wind farms in the corridor stretching from Texas to the Dakotas and advanced plants in geothermal hot spots that could produce large amounts of electricity.

Second, we should begin the planning and construction of a unified national smart grid for the transport of renewable electricity from the rural places where it is mostly generated to the cities where it is mostly used. New high-voltage, low-loss underground lines can be designed with "smart" features that provide consumers with sophisticated information and easy-to-use tools for conserving electricity, eliminating inefficiency and reducing their energy bills. The cost of this modern grid -- $400 billion over 10 years -- pales in comparison with the annual loss to American business of $120 billion due to the cascading failures that are endemic to our current balkanized and antiquated electricity lines.

Third, we should help America's automobile industry (not only the Big Three but the innovative new startup companies as well) to convert quickly to plug-in hybrids that can run on the renewable electricity that will be available as the rest of this plan matures. In combination with the unified grid, a nationwide fleet of plug-in hybrids would also help to solve the problem of electricity storage. Think about it: with this sort of grid, cars could be charged during off-peak energy-use hours; during peak hours, when fewer cars are on the road, they could contribute their electricity back into the national grid.

Fourth, we should embark on a nationwide effort to retrofit buildings with better insulation and energy-efficient windows and lighting. Approximately 40 percent of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States come from buildings -- and stopping that pollution saves money for homeowners and businesses. This initiative should be coupled with the proposal in Congress to help Americans who are burdened by mortgages that exceed the value of their homes.

Fifth, the United States should lead the way by putting a price on carbon here at home, and by leading the world's efforts to replace the Kyoto treaty next year in Copenhagen with a more effective treaty that caps global carbon dioxide emissions and encourages nations to invest together in efficient ways to reduce global warming pollution quickly, including by sharply reducing deforestation.

Of course, the best way -- indeed the only way -- to secure a global agreement to safeguard our future is by re-establishing the United States as the country with the moral and political authority to lead the world toward a solution.

Whole article here.

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Universal Health Care In America?

Paul Krugman seems to think that we may get universal healthcare passed next year! He says that signs are pointing in that direction... I can't believe it until I see it, but that would be enough reason to celebrate for years to come.
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Out With the Old...

I've been waiting eight years to do this!
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Change.gov

Obama has opened a website for people to participate in the transition to his new government.  With him the United States will finally become comfortable with technology and the online environment.  (Yes, the internet was born here, but it has not reached the depths of its citizenry like in other parts of the Western world.)  Obama will prioritize universal access to broadband even in the more remote parts of the country, which will bring about equality and citizen participation in ways not seen here in the last few years.

This is very good.

Every step Obama takes seems to bring us to a better place as a nation; and he hasn't even started his new job yet!   Poor Obama - the expectations are mounting...  He seems so level-headed though, that I think he's going to be ok.

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http://change.gov/

Dream Realized

Watch this great video on YouTube

about Obama, MLK and the American Dream.

I think that the "American Dream" is overrated, but after the election even the cynic must believe.

--- T 

More Beautiful...

Beautiful

The End of The Monster Years

The Monster Years [Paul Krugman]

Last night wasn’t just a victory for tolerance; it wasn’t just a mandate for progressive change; it was also, I hope, the end of the monster years.

What I mean by that is that for the past 14 years America’s political life has been largely dominated by, well, monsters. Monsters like Tom DeLay, who suggested that the shootings at Columbine happened because schools teach students the theory of evolution. Monsters like Karl Rove, who declared that liberals wanted to offer “therapy and understanding” to terrorists. Monsters like Dick Cheney, who saw 9/11 as an opportunity to start torturing people.

And in our national discourse, we pretended that these monsters were reasonable, respectable people. To point out that the monsters were, in fact, monsters, was “shrill.”

Four years ago it seemed as if the monsters would dominate American politics for a long time to come. But for now, at least, they’ve been banished to the wilderness.

Amen. I feel like I can breathe again - for the first time in eight years.
--- T

Barack Won Easily

Congratulations Barack Obama and the new generation of America! He won and restored our faith in American ideals of democracy and unity. McCain's concession speech was gracious, and Obama's was cool, calm, and simply amazing. We were in tears as we watched it all unfold. Now I can believe, again.

This email came from Obama to his supporters just before his victory speech:

Tarja --

I'm about to head to Grant Park to talk to everyone gathered there, but I wanted to write to you first.

We just made history.

And I don't want you to forget how we did it.

You made history every single day during this campaign -- every day you knocked on doors, made a donation, or talked to your family, friends, and neighbors about why you believe it's time for change.

I want to thank all of you who gave your time, talent, and passion to this campaign.

We have a lot of work to do to get our country back on track, and I'll be in touch soon about what comes next.

But I want to be very clear about one thing...

All of this happened because of you.

Thank you,

Barack

Some Voting Advice:

[This information is from MoveOn.org]

Election 2008 Voting Information

Today, November 4th, is Election Day! Remember to vote—not just for Barack Obama, but for Congressional, state, and local candidates as well.

Where and when do I vote?

Find your polling place, voting times, and other important information by checking out these sites and the hotline below. These resources are good, but not perfect. To be doubly sure, you can also contact your local elections office.

Obama's VoteForChange site: voteforchange.com
League of Women Voters' site: vote411.org/pollfinder.php

Obama's voter hotline: 877-US4-OBAMA (877-874-6226)

What should I do before I go?

After you've entered your address on either Vote For Change or Vote411, read the voting instructions and special rules for your state.

Voting ID laws vary from state to state, but if you have ID, bring it.

Check out all the voting myths and misinformation to look out for: http://truth.voteforchange.com/

What if something goes wrong?

Not on the voter list? Make sure you're at the right polling place, then demand a provisional ballot.
If you're voting on an electronic machine with a paper record, verify that the record is accurate.
Need legal help? Call 1-866-OUR-VOTE.

If you encounter a problem, try to videotape the situation and submit it to VideoTheVote.org
Want to do more?

Text all of your friends: "Vote Obama today! Pass it on!"

Volunteer at your local Obama office. Find an office here or here.
Now, everybody go vote!!!

VOTE

VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE

Tuesday is the day to vote for millions of Americans! Let's see how it all turns out...

As Bill Maher says, you can always leave if you cannot take it any longer. But I believe that it will turn out alright tomorrow.
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VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE